


Trial by Fire: Companion Works

by kaoruyogi



Series: Songs of the Elvhen Torch Companion Works [5]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cullenlingus, District Attorney, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Lawyers, M/M, Oral Sex, Public Sex, Shameless Smut, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-08 16:41:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 10,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8852455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaoruyogi/pseuds/kaoruyogi
Summary: This is a companion collection, meant to accompany the story in "Trial by Fire." Each of the chapters will be a little one-shot that I've either already posted in my works, or that I've had yet to post. There were getting to be enough of them that I thought I should make them their own piece, though it should be noted that they are in no particular chronological order, so read at your own risk! This is where random fluff/drabble/smut will live!!! Muahaha!I hope you enjoy!!!





	1. Prompt - When it rains/snows/storms

Halise sighed over her copy of the Ferelden Uniform Commercial Code. The sound of rain trickled and splashed outside of her apartment window, and she longed to be outside in it. If not outside in it, then she simply wanted to be able to enjoy it with a nice cup of hot chocolate and a good book. A good damn book, not this bullshit. _Stupid fucking “additional or different terms” analysis,_ she thought to herself, grimacing at the page in front of her.

With another sigh, she wondered what it must be like to walk with Cullen in the rain. He would probably hold a big umbrella for the two of them and crouch to make sure she didn’t get wet because it was too high up. If they didn’t have an umbrella, she imagined that he would hold his jacket out over their heads, and they would run to shelter, laughing the whole way.

The weather had to be a good enough excuse to video chat with him on a mid-week afternoon, didn’t it? They’d already told one another that they loved each other, so she could talk with him on Sending Crystal if she wanted, right? After nearly ten minutes of staring at her book, waffling instead of reading, Halise decided to call him. She fussed with her hair briefly, righting her bra and her shirt in front of her laptop before she hit “call.”

It barely had a chance to ring before Cullen answered, massive grin plastered on his face. Halise’s mood lifted in an instant, and she beamed back at him. “Hi,” she chirped.

“Hi,” he replied. His hair was disheveled in the way it could only get after he’d run his fingers through it about fifteen too many times. Little dark circles rested under his eyes, as she was certain they did under hers. He was breathtaking in his exhaustion. “You look beautiful,” he murmured, autumnal eyes soft as he gazed at her.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she answered with a little shrug and a crooked grin. “It’s raining here today,” she added softly. “It made me think of you.”

“It’s funny you should say that,” Cullen mused, his hand finding the back of his neck as adorably as it always did. “It’s been snowing in South Reach for days, and it made me think of you. All I’ve wanted since the first flakes started to fall was to curl up with you.” A flush crept up his cheeks with the admission.

“Great minds,” Halise chuckled. “I was thinking the same thing. But now I’m jealous! It never snows in Denerim. Too low and close to the ocean. I miss the snow from the mountains around Redcliffe.” Her voice had started to get dreamy. “We used to take trips up there for the day and throw snowballs and sled and do all that other goofy shit you do when it snows.”

Cullen’s face was thoughtful as she spoke. “Would you like to see the snow again?” he asked.

Halise was certain he meant for her to come to South Reach. “I would,” she began tentatively, “but this 2-207 stuff has me snowed in a completely different way.” They shared a chuckle. “I have a metric ton of reading to do this weekend.” It broke her heart to deny him. She really did want to see him so, so badly.

“That’s alright,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll think of something.” His scar curved with the little quirk at the left side of his mouth. Their conversation went on for nearly an hour before they disconnected, a touch of sorrow tapping at Halise’s heart as it always did when they had to hang up.

It was two days later when the FPS guy, in all his brown uniformed glory, knocked on her door. Halise hadn’t ordered anything, and didn’t recall Sera mentioning expecting any packages, but she signed for it and brought it into the apartment. She read the shipping label as she walked. It was for her, and the sender was one Cullen S. Rutherford. Just the sight of his name made her giddy.

She impatiently ripped open the box, only to find an insulated lunchbox inside with a little handwritten note on top of it. Picking up the note in one hand, she unzipped the lunchbox. A strident laugh leapt from her throat at what she saw there. Her fingers twitched clumsily as she opened the note, and her heart melted when she read it.

 

_Enjoy your snow day._

_Love always,_

_Cullen_

*****


	2. Prompt – Sex still clothed, against a wall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW!!!

“These are the perks of having one’s own house,” Halise purred against Cullen’s lips. They’d only just closed her front door, and she practically attacked him. Not that he was complaining. “Anywhere you want. Any surface. Anything.”

Her surprisingly deft hand had already undone his belt as their tongues twined together. Cullen’s mind was so clouded by lust that he couldn’t rightly tell what room of the house they’d actually made it to, though he suspected they were still in her living room. His hands cupped her jaw, and he surged forward, backing her up with little regard for obstacles. Whatever they hit first would have to do.

Halise’s slim hand worked down the front of his pants, feeling blindly for his already pulsing length. His breath was already coming ragged and loud against her cheeks and nose. The moment her steely fingers wrapped around his cock, he tore his lips from hers with a growl. Darkened harlequin green eyes stared back at him, otherwise barely visible freckles dark against her flushed cheeks, her kiss-swollen lips parted and panting until she pumped her hand once. Cullen’s body reacted before his mind could, pushing her against the nearest wall almost too hard.

They both grunted with the impact, and he set upon her neck with his teeth, unbuttoning and unzipping his black slacks to give her more room to work. But she was too Maker-forsaken slow, stroking and teasing him until his resolve frayed and snapped.

Cullen spun her away from him. _Why, of all days, did she choose today to wear a pantsuit?!_ his inner-monologue screamed. Fortunately, her gray pants were loose enough that he managed to yank them down over her hips and blessedly plump ass, dragging her panties down with them to her gasping delight. Halise’s hands were still flat against the wall, fingers splayed in a way her legs couldn’t be with the cloth sitting tight around her thighs.

Squeezing her ass roughly with one hand, he slipped himself free of his boxer-briefs with the other. He laced his fingers with hers and nipped at her earlobe, wresting a mewling moan from her lips before he asked, “Is this what you wanted?” His stiffness pressed hard against her backside.

“Mm hmm,” was all Halise could manage in response. Good enough.

In one swift motion, he was sheathed in her slick core, dragging simultaneous groans out of both their chests. Cullen took her like that, her body almost flush against the wall, save for her arched back, pushing her out to meet him. He drove into her with abandon, the two of them rumbling and keening with every thrust. He withdrew one hand from hers, reaching down to rub frenzied, almost clumsy circles over her clit. Her body started to shudder. She was close. So was he.

With every thrust, they edged closer, movements becoming more erratic and frantic. Cullen heard her draw in one sharp breath, and, knowing her as well as he did, he pushed harder and faster. She came around him with a broken wail, loud and beautiful. That was all it took to send him over, snarling and groaning as he spilled into her.

He backed off enough to pull Halise from the wall, encircling her in his arms. They panted in time with one another, stated and exhausted, and he pressed chaste little kisses to her neck.

“See?” she puffed out after a moment. “Perks.”

Their heads fell forward with the laughter that rolled through them. The Maker couldn’t have set him a more perfect woman. Of that much, he was certain.

*****


	3. Prompt – At work, oral sex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW!!!

Creators, Cullen’s tongue felt so fucking good against her neck. “Shut the…” Halise could barely breathe, let alone speak. “Shu—ahh…” she wheezed as he bit down on her hard. Her hands shook against the force with which she gripped the edge of her desk.

“What?” he asked, sounding a bit drunk in the face of whatever had so obviously overwhelmed both their good senses. She could scarcely answer with his teeth raking across her pulse point like that.

But the office was still packed with prosecutors, witnesses, and defense attorneys. Halise tugged his well-starched, beautifully baby blue collar, pulling him off of her for the barest moment. “The door,” she panted. “Shut the fucking door.”

Cullen’s eyes widened before his head spun around, his gasp evidencing his new realization that he hadn’t closed it even though his desk was closer. Halise pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at the shocked little noise while he leapt up and strode purposefully to the door. He hooked their sign over the doorknob—“Do not disturb. Meeting in progress,” it said—closing the heavy wooden door a bit too hard.

She grimaced at the slam, but he seemed completely unperturbed. She’d completely expected him to kiss her when he got back to her. Instead, he fell to his knees before her, gazing up at her with lust-blown pupils nearly blacking out the lovely fall color of his eyes. Without a word, he ran his hands up under her suddenly too-tight pencil skirt. He came out with her silky green panties, though she had no idea how. The man was like a fucking magician when it came to removing her undergarments. Now you see them, now you don’t! Or maybe it was the other way around.

A slow breath shuddered out of her at the sight of Cullen tucking her underwear in his pocket. He slipped his shoulders under her thighs, kissing and biting his way up from her knees, pushing her skirt further and further up with every little move. She watched him closely, unable to tear her eyes from him as he reached her sex. His lips brushed over her with a warm sigh, and his tongue caressed her feather light, sending anticipation burning through her body like wildfire.

When he set to work, one of her hands instinctively shot into his golden curls. Halise tried so hard not to muss his hair, to stay quiet, to feel every-fucking-thing. She hissed in a breath when he sucked on her clit, teeth brushing against the sensitive nerves oh so wonderfully. He was far too good at this. Her mouth hung open, patent red heels dangling from her pointed toes. Her breaths sawed in and out of her in the face of the dexterous ministrations of his lips, teeth, and tongue.

It wasn’t long before she felt the little rush of orgasm building, blood and Mythal-knew-what-else congregating low within her. _Shutupshutupshutupshutup,_ her mind shouted, doing its best to remind her to stay quiet. Neither she nor Cullen needed some twenty-five people to know what he was doing to her. Oh, but he was doing it so well.

Halise panted three hard times before she held in her breath. At that exact moment, Cullen’s finger slipped into her. She whimpered with the crest of her orgasm, body trembling almost violently as he massaged her through, stretching the tingling sensation rolling through her as long as he could.

She could barely breathe when it was over, and he crept out from under her legs. He knelt there for a moment, so she let her body slump forward to allow her to kiss him. Holding his face and tasting herself on his lips, she was so very grateful.

“It was just a burglary conviction,” she murmured with a little chuckle, their foreheads lingering together.

“Yes, but the jury was only out for five minutes. You did it so fast, I thought you deserved a little reward.” He smiled and kissed her again.

She would have to try harder to get more five-minute convictions.

*****


	4. Prompt – Public sex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW!!!

The alley behind the Antivan restaurant wasn’t precisely what one might consider clean. But that didn’t stop Cullen from pressing Halise’s back against the rough-hewn brick wall and kissing her hard. She’d been toying with him through their whole dinner with Dorian and Iron Bull, and he’d had enough of her hand wandering up and down his thigh with naught to show for it but a painfully stiff erection.

He held her wrists up over her head in one hand, their lips and tongues meeting only in whatever light, teasing strokes he would allow. She whined petulantly, curling Cullen’s lip into a smirk. Served her right.

Pinning her lithe, dancer’s frame under his much stronger body, he let her feel her handiwork up close and personal. He specifically let his erection press against her sensitivity, rending a little hum of pleasure and anticipation from her throat. He quickly captured her lips in his, silencing her, lest any passersby hear her and come nosing around. She moaned into his mouth, and he swallowed the sound of her pleasure greedily.

 _Thank the Maker for her dress,_ he mused silently. Halise’s blush pink dress was loose, flowing smoothly around her thighs. It made it that much easier for him to hoist her leg up over his hip. He held her there, writhing and impatient, as he hooked his elbow under her leg. With one hand, he unfastened his belt and undid the button and zipper on his pants, letting his cock slip free. Halise ground against it, but he stilled her with the pressure of his body again. She chewed on the inside of her lip, eyes burning with want.

Cullen released her hands, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaping up to ensnare him with her long legs. He held her up, backing her into the wall again. With one deft little tug, he pulled her panties aside, letting her sink down onto him. The supple muscles in her ass clenched in his hands as she took him into her tight heat. A tattered sort of groan seeped out of her, forcing him to take her mouth again.

Bracing her against the rugged wall, he drove up into her. Quiet whimpers and mewls emanated from her, not loud enough to draw anyone’s attention. Halise’s head rocked against the wall with their motions, mouth hanging open wantonly. Cullen nipped at her neck and jaw, delighting in each hitch of her breath. Soon enough, she drew in a breath, slamming her eyes shut and letting her head fall forward onto his shoulder. He rutted into her hard. Her fingers clenched in his hair before her core mirrored the spasm around him. She let out her rising, uneven cry against his shoulder, his shirt absorbing most of the sounds of her ecstasy. Not long after, a few irregular thrusts later, Cullen met his end with a blinding flash. Every ounce of self-control he’d learned in the military stopped the sound of his orgasm in his throat, culminating in a low, satisfied rumble.

They hung in the air like that for a few moments, languid kisses passing back and forth between them. When he did set her down, he chastised her a bit. “You really shouldn’t tease me while we’re at dinner,” he muttered.

Halise laughed a bit too loudly, as was her way. “Fuck you, dude, I’m teasing you more!”

Cullen couldn’t help but chuckle and wrap her up in his arms. He just held her to him, cherishing her presence. With her head resting on his shoulder, she giggled again. “Dorian is going to smell the sex on us from a mile away.”

*****


	5. Prompt – “You can only suffer through my whining for so long until you get up and make me a sandwich.”

Halise’s gut rumbled uncomfortably. She and Cullen were sitting—well, kind of laying—on her sectional reading, her back leaned against his chest with his arm draped over her shoulder. They’d settled into the position with a new sort of familiarity since he’d been staying over to “protect her” from Corypheus and Archdemon’s attempts on her life while she recovered from nearly being blown up.

Another creaky rumble emanated from her gut, tearing her focus away from the novel in her hand. She made a little whiny noise, squirming so her shoulder blades dug into Cullen’s well-muscled chest. “Ow,” he snickered. “What was that for?”

She let her head drop back against his shoulder, staring him in the eyes upside down and sideways. “I’m hungryyyy,” she puled, her tone similar to that of a little girl.

Cullen cocked his head to try and look her directly in the eye, a smile playing at his lips. “So you should make yourself some lunch.”

“Nooooo.” Halise wriggled harder, sliding down his chest until her neck was bent uncomfortably against his hip. Fidgeting until her head rested in his lap, she looked up at him with the saddest puppy dog eyes she could muster. “Will you make me something, pleeeaaaasssse?” She beamed at him in an attempt to emphasize her pathetic cuteness.

“Why don’t you want to do it?” His full-blown amusement was all too evident in his expression. Little crinkles had formed at the corners of his eyes.

Another grumbling whine poured out of her chest, accompanying a closed-eyed frown. “I’m so tiiiirrrreeed! I’m wounded remember?” She cracked her eyelids a bit. “Come on, pleeeeaaaassse?” When he didn’t move, she rolled over, looking him in his warm amber eyes. “You can only suffer through my whining for so long until you get up and make me a sandwich. I know it.”

“Oh, I know it, too,” he replied amusedly. But a darkness flooded his eyes after a moment as he leaned down to kiss her. He spoke against her lips. “I just wanted to see you squirm around a little before I did it.”

*****


	6. Prompt – “Please put your penis away.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somewhat NSFW.

“Halise and Cullen will be here any minute,” Dorian chirped, rushing around the dinner table to make certain that every last place setting was exactly right. It was the first time he and Iron Bull had invited anyone to the house for dinner for a double date since they’d moved in together, and his nerves were getting the better of him.

“Take a deep breath, kadan,” Bull said soothingly, his hip braced on the kitchen counter, arms folded over his broad chest. “It’s just Halise. She’s seen you hunched over a toilet in your underwear. I don’t think she’ll be put off if her salad fork isn’t precisely parallel to her butter knife.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Dorian snapped, whipping his head back around to glare at his fiancé. “Cullen has never been here before, and Maker knows what he must be expecting!”

He watched as Bull uncrossed his arms, closing the space between them. The Qunari’s large hand caressed Dorian’s face sweetly, making it exceedingly difficult for him to stay angry. He then pressed a kiss against Dorian’s lips, lingering just long enough for the Tevinter to throw his arms around Bull’s neck and open his lips.

Dorian only noticed in passing that the pressure Bull’s body was exerting on him was skewing the flatware, but he’d become rather unconcerned with it. His mind wrapped up in more pressing matters. Bull’s hands wandered down gently, unbuttoning and unzipping Dorian’s pants with a delicacy that would never cease to surprise Dorian, given the size of his partner’s hands. But when one slipped in, grasping and tugging at his manhood, all his sense flew out of his ears.

He didn’t even hear the front door opening.

“We brought wiiine—ah!” Halise’s voice chimed from the doorway. In plain view of the kitchen table. And Dorian and Bull’s…activities. “Sorry! I used my key!” she cried, tugging Cullen to face the door alongside her.

Dorian cleared his throat, smoothing his shirt down and straightening his mustache. “It’s completely alright!” he replied cheerfully, drawing Halise’s eyes back toward him over her shoulder.  
“Dorian?” Uncertainty tainted her voice.

“Yes, my darling?”

“Please put your penis away.”

*****


	7. Prompt – “Do you really need all that candy?”

“Do you really need all that candy?” Cullen asked as Halise piled bag after bag of fun sized Milky Way Midnight bars into their cart at the supermarket.

“Yes,” she replied matter-of-factly without an ounce of hesitation or shame.

“Why?” he asked, genuine curiosity lifting the corner of his mouth.

She sighed plaintively, dropping her arms to her sides and staring at him. “Would it make you less judgey if I said they were for trick-or-treaters on All Soul’s Day?”

Cullen crossed his arms. “It would, except that it’s the seventeenth of Guardian and All Soul’s Day is about six months away.”

Halise’s face was blank as she snatched up one more bag of candy without looking, throwing it into their cart and pushing it out of his hands in complete avoidance of his question. He followed her toward the potato chip aisle. She cast an amused glance over her shoulder, finally answering him. “I don’t want to buy it right before!” she said incredulously. “They raise the prices.”

It was a load of nugshit, and Cullen knew she was lying through her wide, white teeth. But he let her have it. Until they started down the chip aisle. Her hands reached out absently in both directions, tossing several bags of chips into their cart. He suppressed a laugh before confronting her again. “And all these chips?”

She spun to face him, her hands braced on the handlebar of the cart, back arched. “I don’t know if we can keep this relationship alive if you’re going to question _all_ of my junk food purchases Mr. I-Can’t-Endanger-My-Rock-Hard-Abs Rutherford.” She poked said abs with a defiant little crooked smile plastered on her face, reminding him of when she’d called him that years ago.

Cullen grinned back at her, pushing his body against hers and slipping his heavy grip over the knuckles of her right hand. With his other hand, he snuck a rough squeeze of her ass. His lips grazed the blade of her ear as he murmured, “I think we’ll manage.”

*****


	8. Prompt – “I need a place to stay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little Halise and Sera friendship drabble!

A loud knock at Halise’s front door drew her attention from the tears slipping down her cheeks. She’d only learned a few hours before that Corypheus’s case had somehow managed to follow her from Denerim to Redcliffe and back again. He’d already murdered her best friend’s adoptive mother and stabbed Halise in her hand, what more could he do to her?

She plodded her way to the door slowly, peering through the peephole to see who had banged on her door so aggressively. A slight body and blonde hair huddled on the other side. Halise sniffed loudly before unlocking the door to let Sera in.

The blonde elf looked completely wrecked. Her eyes, nose, and cheeks were bright red, and she sniffled audibly, mirroring Halise’s sorrow in a way that only someone who’d known her for a decade could. Sera shook her head with a deep frown, her lower lip quivering. “Can’t—Can’t be at my place tonight. I need a place to stay,” she rasped, voice thick and rough against the tears she’d obviously been shedding for some time.

Halise spread her arms out wide, letting Sera fall into her for a much-needed embrace. They stayed like that for a few moments, Halise rubbing Sera’s back in the open doorway. “Of course you can stay here, cookie,” the redhead murmured into the blonde’s shoulder. She’d been calling her that since the great cookie conversation of nine years ago.

Sera pulled back a bit, swiping her sleeve across her face with another sniff. “Thanks, elfy,” she answered with a wan smile.

“Anytime. In fact, I have a spare key I keep meaning to give you.” They came inside and closed the door. Halise grabbed up the little bronze key from the island in her kitchen. She pressed it into Sera’s hand, reminding her, “You always have a place here if you need it.”

Sera punched Halise’s arm, wresting a nasally chuckle from both of them. “I know that you daft tit!”

*****


	9. Prompt – “I’m bulletproof…but please, don’t shoot me.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Cullen asked calmly as he and Halise exited his SUV at the local shooting range.

She gave him a look that would have stopped the Maker in his tracks. It just screamed, “Don’t be stupid, Cullen,” while she actually said, “Yes. I’m sure.”

She opened the back door on her side of the vehicle, drawing out a black Kevlar gun bag. From it she removed a little hair tie. She flipped her torso upside down in one swift motion, sweeping her long red curls up and securing them in a ponytail with the tie. Only her straight fringe was left loose. Bag in hand once more, she gave a little bow, holding her hand out in front of her. “After you,” she smirked.

After they’d paid the entry fee and gotten assigned to a lane, Cullen watched as Halise pulled a shockingly aqua colored set of foam in-ear plugs, smushed and rolled them between her fingers, and stuck them into her ears. He did the same with his beige plugs, following her into the range with the targets and his own gun case in hand. Shots rang out around them, echoing off the gray walls and black padded lane separators. Halise rolled her head from shoulder to shoulder and back again.

They both set up in silence, their firearms side by side on the table as they loaded their magazines—10 rounds each. Cullen tried not to chuckle when he saw Halise using an easy-loader to help shove the bullets into the magazine, even as his thumb started to ache from the ridges of his 9 mm rounds. It wasn’t until he paid just a bit more attention that he noticed Halise’s gun was a .45 caliber S&W, with much more stopping power—and kick—than his 9 mm Glock. His brow furrowed unconsciously at the realization. She was much smaller than he was, and he had no idea what her experience level was.

He shot first, carefully unloading rounds one by one into his target 15 yards away. He flicked the switch to bring his target back, relatively satisfied with his grouping after 10 rounds. They were warmup rounds, after all. When Halise picked up her gun, Cullen chuckled, “I’m bulletproof…but please, don’t shoot me.”

What she shot him was that look again. “I think you’re forgetting something,” she replied loud enough for him to hear her through his earplugs.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh? And what would that be?”

Halise smirked before loading an 11th bullet into the chamber and popping in her magazine with expert precision. She took a slanted stance, minimizing her silhouette as she slid her left hand onto the grip, her thumbs stacked in the new style of grip, elbows slightly bent. Her shoulders rose with a deep inhale, and just as they began to fall, she started firing. 11 _pows_ in about 5 seconds. Neither the gun nor her hands moved much at all the entire time. The second she was finished firing she popped the spent magazine out of the gun, locked the slide open, and activated the safety in one deft series of movements.

With a flick of the switch to draw her target back, she stared intently at the flapping sheet of marked paper. The same little smirk was stuck to her lips the whole time. Cullen was unbelievably turned on by the sight of it all.

She snapped the target out of the clips holding it in place, barking out a little laugh when she saw the result. She held it up in front of Cullen. _Maker’s breath_. 11 holes in the 10 ring.

“You forgot that my dad’s a cop, and I’ve been shooting since I was 9!”

*****


	10. Prompt – “You’re so whipped.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Rutherford Family dinner.

“Oh, Branson,” Cullen said absently over their family dinner. His brother’s eyes lifted from the plate to meet his. “I forgot to tell you, I can’t go out with you this weekend.”

“What?!” Branson nearly yelled. Mia, their older sister, pursed her lips, arched a brow, and looked back and forth between the two of them to remind them that they were at _her_ table and were expected to act accordingly. “Sorry,” he murmured. “But what do you mean you can’t go? I made plans with the fishing boat captain for five. He’s still going to charge me if you’re not there.”

“I’ll still pay my share,” Cullen answered calmly after swallowing a mouthful of mashed potatoes. “But I can’t go.”

“Why not?” Branson asked plaintively.

“Because I’m driving to Denerim tomorrow to see Halise. We’re going shooting.” Cullen scooped up chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes onto his fork, shoving it into his mouth.

“What?! You can’t go fishing with your own brother and three of your friends because you’re going to visit a _girl_?! Bro,” Branson said, tone suddenly serious. “You’re so whipped.”

Cullen almost spat out what little food was left in his mouth. “How is being ‘whipped’ ever a bad thing?” he asked, shooting his brother a look. “I have a beautiful, smart, talented girlfriend who actually wants me around so she and I can hang out and have fun and—” He stopped himself short.

Branson’s face went from agitated to intrigued and a bit salacious. Rosalie giggled next to Cullen. “And what, Cullen?” Branson asked lasciviously. “What were you about to say?” He plopped his chin on the heel of his hand, waiting for an answer that Cullen simply did not want to give.

The elder brother shot a pleading look to Mia’s husband, Marcus, who just kept chewing as he smirked and shrugged. He already knew his sisters would be no help. He could feel the blood rushing up his neck, through his cheeks, and over his ears.

“Well, Cullen?” Branson prodded again. “What were you about to say?”

“You know what I was about to say,” Cullen muttered, utterly defeated.

“Oh, do I? I don’t think I do.” Branson’s phony innocent act was not as cute as he seemed to think it was.

Cullen had one, and only one, idea to change the subject. A “Hail Andraste” if he’d ever thought of one. He loaded his fork up with more mashed potatoes than would ever have fit in his mouth, drew the fork up, and flung the lot of it at his brother. Rosalie shrieked, Mia gasped, Marcus laughed, and Branson just sat there in complete silent stillness.

That was, until he leapt up from his seat and hurled a handful of potatoes at Cullen. Unfortunately for the both of them, he missed, hitting Mia square in the face. Everyone held their breath, each of the men trying desperately not to laugh. Mia slowly lifter her plate, still covered in food, and smashed it directly into Marcus’s face. That was all it took to start the full-fledged food fight in Mia’s dining room.

By the end of the screaming mess, everyone sat on the floor in a heap, panting and laughing. Cullen and Branson sat with their bodies crossed, having fallen over one another in the melee. “So,” Branson said breathlessly, “what were you going to say, Cullen?”

Cullen just laughed, swept up a glob of food from the side of his face, and stuffed it in his brother’s mouth. “No way, Branson. No way.”

*****


	11. Prompt – “Fuck, I think I caught feelings.” and “Did I just say that out loud?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vaguely NSFW.

Halise rolled off Cullen and onto her back, panting and sore with her hands over her heart to try and slow her breathing. “Fuck,” she sighed shakily, her legs still trembling, limp as they were dangling across his thighs. Sweat covered her body, and little tremors and vestiges of her orgasm still made her quiver.

Beside her, Cullen lay similarly exhausted with his forearm over his forehead, trying to catch his breath. “Ditto,” he chuckled, wresting a matching laugh from Halise.

“That was…” she began, flabbergasted as to which adjective she should choose. Amazing, fantastic, wonderful, fucking life altering—all of them seemed both adequate and inadequate to express her thoughts on what they’d just done together. She laughed again. “Fuck, I think I caught feelings,” she giggled, turning her head to gaze into his autumnal eyes. “Oh,” she added innocently. “Did I just say that out loud?”

Cullen smiled his adorable smile at her, curving his scar in answer. “I love you, too,” he murmured.

The grin on Halise’s face was too heartfelt to wipe off as her boyfriend rolled toward her. His kisses were chaste at first, but grew increasingly fervent with each press of their lips and swipe of a tongue. It didn’t take long before she felt him hardening against her still-trembling thigh. She ripped her mouth from his, staring at him incredulously, mouth agape. He just gazed at her mouth, smile planted firmly on his face.

“Mythal’s mercy, Cullen! No fucking way, man,” she snorted. “Not without a cold glass of water first.” He kissed her one more time before leaping a bit too spryly from her bed and trotting bare-assed out to her kitchen to get her water. Halise tilted her head to the side, watching him go.

 _Fenedhis,_ she thought, _he has **such** a nice ass._

*****


	12. Prompt – “You’re mine, and I don’t share.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little NSFW...

“That cop was flirting with you earlier,” Cullen murmured in the elevator, light agitation tainting his voice. They were done for the day, riding town together to leave the courthouse, which was mostly empty by then.

Halise knew full well he was right. “Oh? I didn’t really notice,” she replied, completely unconvincingly if her response sounded as she intended.

“You did,” he answered with a sharp edge.

She looked up at him, noting the hard set of his chiseled jaw and the fire in his eyes. “So? What’s wrong with a little harmless flirting? Maybe him thinking I’m hot will make him more likely to show up for his subpoenas.”

That seemed to set him off. Cullen reached across the elevator, slamming the emergency stop button as hard as he could. He hovered over Halise for the barest moment before his lips crashed into hers. Her large gray tote back dropped from her shoulder with a _thud_ , her tongue already twining with his. She held fast onto the metal railing behind her, even as it jabbed into her lower back.

He pulled away just enough to trail kisses down her chin, across her neck, and up her jaw to her ear. His teeth dragged at her earlobe, rending a hum from her throat and making her knees tremble. They nearly gave way when he growled into her ear. “You’re mine, and I don’t share.”

Halise mewled helplessly, her body trapped between him and the wall. Between a rock and a hard place—though, in this case, Cullen was both. She ground herself against his thigh, seeking some form of reprieve from the growing heat and wetness there. He captured her chin between his thumb and forefinger, lust-darkened eyes boring into her.

“For that, you’ll have to wait until we get back to your house,” he rumbled. Without giving her the chance to protest, he tugged at the emergency stop button, setting the elevator in motion once again.

Her bottom lip quivered at the same pace her hands did, ragged breaths sawing in and out of her right up to the moment the elevator door opened. She picked up her tote, chewing on the inside of her lip as she traipsed after him. When they reached the parking structure, a sudden realization hit her. _Shit._ They’d taken separate cars that day.

She watched him get into his SUV, flinging a smirk her way through the windows between them. A strange blend of lust and resentment built within her as they exited the structure.

 _I’ll get him back for this when we get home,_ she vowed to herself, already pondering the ways she was about to blow his fucking mind.

*****


	13. Prompt – “You did not wake me up at 2am just because you were in the mood.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW!!!

A featherlight touch on Cullen’s thigh stirred him first. He woke just enough to determine that it was Halise’s fingertips and nails brushing up and down, stimulating the sensitive flesh there. He sighed listlessly, cracking his eyelids just enough to see that it was still dark outside. When he turned to look at the time, his bleary eyes just made out _2:07 am_ in the multicolored numbers on Halise’s bedside clock.

It seemed she’d realized he was awake. Her gentle strokes built in pressure, insistence, and range. She squeezed at his inner thigh, too close to his sac, and he felt himself rising to meet her ministrations. “You did not wake me up at 2 am just because you were in the mood,” he groaned, partially out of exhaustion and partially out of pleasure.

Halise’s hand crept under the waistband of his boxerbriefs, steely fingers wrapping around his length and tugging. It was only then that he felt the press of her bare breasts on his arm and the heat of her uneven breath on his neck. “I did,” she whispered, stroking him again. “Do you have a problem with that?” Once more.

Air rattled out of his lungs, tension building to an ache deep within him. He sat up slowly, taking in the sight of his love, naked and wanton and demanding his attention. His hand met with her wrist, pulling her off him despite her protests and his arousal. But he had other plans.

Cullen stood, dropping his underwear to his ankles and kicking it away, much to Halise’s apparent delight. She sucked on her bottom lip, eyes exploring his body in the dark amid the dappled moonlight that crept through her blinds. Without another word, he flipped her on her stomach. A little yelp left her throat, followed by another in response to his swat and squeeze of her supple ass. He watched her hands clench the sheets under her, smacking her noisily a second time. She grunted as her grip tightened, her knuckles going white under the pressure.

“Please,” she whined, wiggling her ass a bit to bring him down to her. It worked.

Spreading her knees enough to situate himself between her legs, Cullen slipped into her without a sound. Halise whimpered, no doubt feeling his weight and the moisture of his breath at the back of her neck. Her hair parted just enough to give him a glimpse of the dark green tattoo that wound its way between her shoulder blades. He thrust into her, drawing out another little cry before he dropped to one elbow. His rough fingers wrapped loosely around her throat, putting light pressure on her windpipe with his next thrust. She keened loudly, spurring him on until his pace was frantic.

He dropped to his other elbow then, lacing his fingers with Halise’s and loosening them from the sheet beneath her. He entered her over and over, relishing the hitch in her cries from the force of his much-desired intrusion. When her breath stopped for a moment, he pushed harder and faster, working deep within her until she came apart with a shattered scream—long and beautiful. That was all it took to send him into his undoing with a thunderous moan as he spilled into her with a few more messy thrusts.

Cullen took his hand off her throat, choosing to hold her hand as he had done with its counterpart. Little kisses passed from his lips over her bared back, winding along her tattoo before travelling back up to her neck and ear. She giggled and shook beneath him, still tender to his touch.

“I’ve been woken up by worse at 2 am,” he murmured with a chuckle. Much worse.

*****


	14. Prompt – In the cinema (smut prompt)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW!!!

“This movie’s been out for weeks and I finally get to see it,” Halise chirped merrily, practically skipping into the theater. She would have skipped, too, if her ribcage didn’t still ache from having been hurled into the side of a sedan outside Haven less than two weeks prior. “At least something good came from Corypheus trying to blow me up.”

Culled followed a couple of steps behind her, his hands in the pockets of his jeans when she shot a glance back at him. He smirked his smirk at her, his scar curving with the curl of his lips. Damn attractive scar. Nearly every time he did that, she felt heat pool low in her belly. “Well, I’d thought the rekindling of our long lost love was something good, but the opportunity to go to the movies is a close second, I suppose,” he retorted blithely.

“Well, yes, obviously there was that too,” she conceded with a grin, stopping to take his hand in hers.

They made their way into the dimly-lit theater, his amber eyes looking down at her instead of straight ahead. Feeling the heat of his gaze, she lifted their hands without looking at him and pressed a languid kiss to his knuckles. Her lips lingered against his skin as they rounded the wall to the theater proper.

It was utterly empty. They’d only arrived a couple of minutes before the movie was set to start, but the stadium-seated auditorium was completely devoid of life other than theirs. It was a weekday, and most people probably hadn’t gotten out of work or school yet. It was the first time she’d had an auditorium all to herself since she and her parents and little sister went to see a movie at the Dollar Theater when she was twelve. Just like then, the space suddenly became a realm of endless possibilities.

Halise bounded up the stairs, dragging Cullen behind her as she took her seat in the perfect center of the room. A tiny spot of pity for her boyfriend poked at her mind at the thought that he was missing out on such a perfect viewing experience, but he didn’t seem to mind. His eyes still watched her as his fingers wandered up her arm. She drew the inside of her lip between her teeth, the same heat pulsing in her more persistently with every stroke of his rough fingertips.

When they found her neck, a hard shiver shook through her body, accompanied by a whimpering sigh. The things he did to her. The things she wanted to do to him. He brushed softly along her sensitive flesh from the side of her neck to the base of her skull. With his suddenly firm grip there, he turned her head just enough for him to capture her lips with his. She mewled into him, parting her lips without hesitation when he ran his tongue along the length of them.

His tongue and teeth and lips bore down on her insistently—fervently—as his unoccupied hand occupied itself by sliding under her shirt. Calloused fingers slipped between her bra and her already pearled nipple, shooting jolts of pleasure straight to her core with each passing brush. Her hips rolled instinctively in her seat, a soft moan escaping her throat as the seam of her jeans put even the slightest pressure on her sensitive bundle of nerves.

As if feeling the pleasure she derived from something other than him, Cullen flipped the cupholder between them up and away with his elbow. He hauled Halise into his lap, moving the opposite cupholder away just as deftly. She straddled him, her legs comfortably settled in the gaps between seats, her sex resting atop his already hard cock. She rolled her hips against him, wresting his lips from hers and a groan from his chest. He panted against the column of her throat, mouth open and lips damp as they glided across her skin.

Another roll of her hips was all it took to fray him. He pushed her from his lap, his previously skillful fingers working clumsily at the button and zipper of her jeans. She took over for him, flicking her eyes from him to his pants. “You get yours,” she breathed as the lights went out in the auditorium. Perfect timing.

She watched as Cullen unbuttoned and unzipped himself, tugging his pants down just far enough for him to pull his cock free of his boxerbriefs. Halise sighed at the sight as she pushed her waistband down and yanked her right leg free of her pants and panties in one fell swoop. Crawling back astride him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and lowered herself onto him. Twin moans issued from their throats as he filled her. His hands gripped her hips almost painfully while she rocked them and ground into him, his lips and teeth plying at the flesh of her neck. Hard breaths left their bodies in unison with every pitch of her hips, the angle rubbing perfectly against her clit, pulling her to the ragged edge as the coming attractions played on the screen behind her. How apropos.

The sounds emanating from the trailers weren’t quite loud enough to cover the sounds of their passion, however, and with a final lurch of her hips, they both tumbled loudly into orgasm. Halise’s head fell back as Cullen’s name poured from her lips and her body shuddered. His large, powerful hands pressed against her back, forehead resting on her chest while the sound of his end escaped his lips ever so beautifully.

Halise let her forehead rest against his still-tames curls for a few moments as they recovered, the seemingly eternal stream of trailers still running behind her. The one going at that moment actually sounded a little interesting. She chuckled, pressing a kiss into his hair and drawing his autumnal eyes up to meet hers.

“See?” she panted, smile overtaking her expression at the satisfaction on Cullen’s face. “Something good!”

*****


	15. Sensory Prompt - Stepping in Something Squishy

“Viscous.”

“What? Come on, really?” Halise pouted, puffing out her lower lip with a petulant snort.

“You don’t like it?” Cullen raised his eyebrows from across her sectional.

“I think it’s fair to say that no one likes their personality to be described as ‘viscous.’” Sardonic little air quotes flew up from her fingers before she crossed her arms.

He moved to sit closer to her, but she slid away, rounding the corner of the large couch as the cloth of her jeans made a _zip_ noise against the deep blue fabric. She turned her nose up to make a show of her vexation at his response. “Oh, come now, Halise. Would you at least let me explain?”

Without turning back to him, Halise bade him continue with a flippant wave. It was all he could do not to laugh.

“Did you ever play in the mud when you were a child?” Cullen asked. She shot him a skeptical squint. He carried on despite her. “Well? Did you?”

“Ugh, fine, yes. I played in the mud when I was little. Who didn’t?”

The smirk creeping up his lips was involuntary. No one could have blamed him, seeing how lovely she was when she was vexed. Her viridescent eyes flashed hot, blood rushed to her pursed lips, her cheeks flushed, and her long red curls served as twisted reminders of the fire living within her. Fire he would provoke if he didn’t explain himself.

“Close your eyes.”

“Oh come on. You tell me my persona—”

“Just close them.” He inched nearer to her, feeling the heat radiating off her body as he chanced putting one hand on her shoulder. Then a second. She rolled her joints under his palms to show him she was in control, that she was letting him touch her. Once she seemed certain she’d asserted her control over the situation, she closed her eyes in a huff.

Cullen spoke softly. “Remember how the mud felt between your toes when you stepped in it? Maybe you were running around in the garden all day, and your bare little feet began to tire of the hard ground and rough grass. But then you—and perhaps Eirlan, too—found the mud. You stepped in it to be sure it wasn’t full of rocks before you decided to throw any. It felt funny. It always felt a little funny. But it was warm enough to be inviting and cool enough to be soothing. It crept between your toes smooth as silk.”

Halise’s shoulders relaxed more with his every utterance, so he continued. “Perhaps you walked around in it a bit, or perhaps you buried your toes deep down until the soft warmth enveloped them. Whichever option you chose, you liked the feeling enough to get the mud on your hands—to feel the same sensations between your fingers. You pressed it, tried to mold it to what you wanted to make it. But it always sank and stretched back to what it was. Soft, warm, welcoming, and funny.”

The barest hints of a smile peeked over her shoulder, her eyes still closed as she sighed. He could have reached forward to kiss her then. She would have let him. But he had a point to make. “Mud is viscous, and it is all the things you loved best about it when you played because that is its nature. We can’t change mud, can’t make into something it isn’t. Nor could anyone change you, or make you into something you aren’t. You’re soft, warm, welcoming, and funny.”

Cullen dared to lean forward then, pressing a kiss to the back of Halise’s head. She returned the gesture as much as she was able, leaving a slow kiss on the back of his right hand as it rested on her shoulder. He moved to envelop her with his body, his arms snaking across her collarbones to hold her to his chest.

“You really know how to dig yourself out of a hole, counselor. Have you considered being persuasive for a living?” Airy laughter passed between them. Her fingers stroked his knuckles, soft and smooth against his sometimes too-rough skin.

“I had contemplated it. It does help when my audience is so receptive.” He let his voice seep into her pointed ear, his mouth resting against the lobe to send a tiny shiver through her body.

A sultriness slinked its way into her tone that made him ache. “Well, as you said, I’m warm and inviting—traits I’d love to seal into your thoughts now, if you’ll allow me.” If her words left any lingering doubt, the steady crawl of her fingertips up his thigh banished it away in a scalding flash.

“I’m certain I can be persuaded.”

*****


	16. Sensory Prompt - The jittery, sick feeling when you can’t do anything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is set from Cullen's perspective while Halise was in a coma.

Doctors passed in and out, in and out, in and out. Morning, noon, and night blurred together into a haze of light and dark, light and dark, light and dark. Halise’s parents came and went, sometimes in shifts, sometimes forcing him to leave. But Cullen’s mind never left her bedside.

Revassan or Dianisamahl would order him out of the room, albeit sweetly, and he would take the long drive home from Denerim Regional Hospital. Nausea churned his gut and tickled at the back of his throat as he drove. It happened every time. Each of three and a half times. He turned around once and stayed in the lobby, then came back up to her room after something resembling a respectable time for a nap had passed.

When he did make it home, sleep was a fleeting, fitful thing. He loved her and she needed to know it. She had to know it. How could she know it if she didn’t wake up? How could she know if her mind could no longer process such things?

That spiraling train of thought led to tears more than once, nightmares more than twice, and cold sweats innumerable. He held onto his pillow, he kicked his bed bare, he hid under the covers. Nothing could stop his fears eating away at him, pecking at his consciousness every time his eyelids fluttered.

So he went back. At her side was the only place his mind found some semblance of peace. Halise’s parents didn’t understand. He could only sleep when he was near her. If she woke up, he had to be there. Had to be the first person she saw. It was selfish. Her mother and father were there. She would have wanted it to be one of them. It should have been one of them.

But they let him hold her hand. They let him lean in close and whisper to her. “Please wake up.” They let him fall asleep at her side while they leaned on each other in twin chairs across the room. They let him fall asleep with his head in her lap.

It was the only way. Tiny prayers fell from his lips to land on her still frame. Her stomach and thighs were peppered with “Andraste,” and “Maker,” and “Please.” Her fingertips bore the warm breaths of hope he secreted against them when her parents stepped out. Breaths of love. Breaths of devotion.

Shivers of withdrawal coursed through his body if he left her, whether it was to eat, relieve himself, or let one of her parents sit at her side for a little while. He knew she was there, but it didn’t help. Knowing she was there was the source of his ills. She had to wake. She had to.

He muttered his prayers over her thighs, letting the flicker of her pulse through her femoral artery beat the pace of his worship. He did it until his eyes closed. He did it until his body gave in. Maybe he could meet her in their twining unconsciousness.

Touches light as gossamer, light as wisps, light as air grazed his palm. His lungs sucked in slow breath to keep him in twilight. He had to know if they were real. Another slow breath inched him back toward sleep. If she woke, he would know. Her pulse still pattered under his ear. He would know.

“Your head and arms are crazy fucking heavy.”

*****


	17. Sensory Prompt - Singing badly as loud as you can

Halise loved to sit and listen to drunk people doing karaoke at Haven after a particularly rough evening class. She and Sera sat at their booth doing just that after a particularly rancid Evidence class. Halise had overcomplicated a very simple balancing test twice in a row, and her professor sighed at her. He. Fucking. Sighed. At. Her. So, when Sera asked if she wanted to go to Haven, she didn’t even have to think before she answered.

A man in a flowery shirt who clearly thought he was on some tropical vacation off the coast of Rivain somewhere had just finished his slobbering rendition of “Margaritaville” when Sera jumped up. She was sloshed, a sway in her step and eyes that blinked at different times. She stood—rocked, really—in front of Halise with a glazed over look of determination in her desynchronized eyes.

“I’monna do it,” she slurred.

Halise gave her a sidelong stare, wary of whatever was percolating in her friend’s drunken noggin. “You’re going to do what?”

“I’monna sing. I’monna sing you a sssong cause your class wassshard. Hhhard.” How she was still standing was anyone’s guess.

The redhead leapt out of their booth, latching onto Sera’s shoulders just as she turned to wobble up to the stage. “Woah, woah, woah! You’re going to be so mad at me in the morning if I let you do that. Why don’t you just sit back down and let that fifth pint do its thing?”

The smaller woman snarled and tugged herself from Halise’s grasp. “No! I’monna sing you a song. It’sss gonna be pretty, like your stupid face.” She sputtered out a laugh before teetering away. Halise remained standing, her hand over her mouth as she watched her best friend struggle to punch a number into the karaoke machine.

When the first few notes of “Don’t Stop Believing” blared over the speakers, the entire bar spun into a whooping, hollering frenzy. Sera swung her arms up over her head to whip them up even higher. Mythal’s mercy, this was going to be interesting.

She howled—no, howled gave too little credit to the talents of dogs—screeched out a vaguely recognizable version of the lyrics. They were slurred, sloppy, and saturated with booze. Nearly every note was blindingly off key. It was heinous.

Halise cringed when it all began, mortified for her intoxicated friend. That was, until she realized that every person in that bar was on their feet cheering the blonde elf on. The flowery “Margaritaville” man led the charge, shouting and clapping _almost_ on beat. Everyone joined him, yelling and hooting away. Whether it was genuine or just to stop themselves from being forced to listen to Sera’s wailing didn’t matter. Sera grinned and punched the air, hamming it up for her adoring fans. Even Halise clapped along. It really had managed to cheer her up.

And Sera only yelled and punched her once in the arm the next day. Little victories.

*****


	18. Sensory Prompt - Red wine-stained lips

He’d made a habit of watching her while she slept. He wouldn’t call it a bad habit, either. Cullen collected her little twitches and sighs and whimpers. He filed them all away, carefully sorted and catalogued in his memory. It made him notice her idiosyncrasies, how she moved and breathed differently in the late night than she did in the very early morning.

For instance, Halise was very still at night, but she shifted and shuffled in the mornings when her sleep was at its thinnest and her dreams at their most vivid. At night, Cullen found he could run his fingers featherlight over her skin without waking her. They would glide over the supple shoulder that had bared itself, free from the trappings of her nightshirt. They floated across her forehead, brushing away tiny stray wisps of red hair that dared impede his view. They brushed over her lips, pink as roses in the failing light of day.

It was those lips that entranced Cullen that night. His fingertips ghosted across them, noting their subtle change in color from the single glass of red wine she’d had with dinner. She didn’t like it, but someone gave it to her, so she drank it in their presence to avoid seeming rude. She’d kissed him after that. The sweet tang lingered on those plush lips, sending a jolt through him that bade him draw them between his teeth. He was as gentle with her as he could have been, despite the urge to devour her.

As if reading his thoughts, Halise bit down on her bottom lip in her sleep. The stained flesh whitened under the press of her teeth before emerging, even redder and glistening in the dim light of her bedroom. Cullen let his finger graze the surface, marveling in the feel of her.

She’d sighed into his kiss earlier that night. And, by some miracle, she sighed then, too. Was she dreaming of him? Of their kiss? Of something more?

Her brilliantly green eyes had fluttered open before to pour her warm love into him. He watched her then as she slept, waiting, willing her eyes to open. Willing her to feed him the love he so desired from her.

But they didn’t open. In that moment, he realized he should not have willed her eyes to open. She slept peacefully, giving him dozens of memories for his collection all the while. He should cherish every second with her, asleep or awake. He’d lost her once, and nearly lost her a second time. Maker only knew how many more seconds they would have together.

Though she was still asleep, Halise inhaled deeply—noisily—then. Her body rolled toward him, and he felt her hand fall gently onto his waist. Her fingers squeezed at him and her elbow bent as though she was trying to pull him closer. So he obliged her, closing the scant space between their bodies to envelop her in his embrace. Her head nestled under his chin, and a soft sigh left her nose to travel down his bare chest, prickling his skin into goosebumps the entire way.

Settled once more, her breathing eased and evened, the depth of her sleep restored. Cullen’s hand rested against the back of her head, his fingers skimming over her hair in a slow rhythm. He had another memory to file away, to store and save until he needed it again. Needed her again. But he had her then, and that was enough. Sleep took him softly, the rhythm of Halise’s breath on his chest setting the soothing tempo of his dreams. He had her then, and that was enough.

*****

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading.
> 
> As always, kudos/comments/con-crit are welcome and encouraged.
> 
> Come on over to my [tumblr](kaoruyogi.tumblr.com) and talk it up with me if you'd like!


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